Virunga National Park in Africa is home to about a quarter of the world's endangered Mountain Gorillas/Virunga National Park

Unchecked violence, which recently peaked with a murder of a park ranger and kidnapping of three visitors, has led to the closure of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for at least the rest of the year.

"...it is abundantly clear that the Virunga region is deeply affected by insecurity and that this will remain the case for some time. For Virunga to be safely visited, much more robust measures are needed than in the past. This will require a very significant investment, and makes it impossible for us to re-open tourism this year," Emmanuel de Merode, the park's chief warden, wrote in announcing the closure earlier this month.

"This has been a profoundly difficult decision for me, and carries with it enormous disappointment for all of those, including yourselves, that invested such hope in the extraordinary impact that tourism was having on people’s lives around Virunga," he added. "It also represents an enormous financial strain for the park, but we are convinced that it is the only responsible decision that we can make under the current circumstances."

On May 11, marauders killed Ranger Rachel Masika Baraka in an attack on a park vehicle. During the incident, two British nationals and a Congolese driver were captured by armed assailants and taken hostage, though they were later released. In early April, five rangers were murdered along with their driver by MaiMai militia in the park's Central District.

Virunga, Africa's oldest national park, was established in 1925 and protects about 900 endangered mountain gorillas. They can be found in the 3,000-square-mile park's southern region, where they live in the forests that climb the flanks of the dormant Mikeno volcano. 

The park’s two other Great Ape species, eastern lowland Grauer’s gorillas and chimpanzees, make Virunga the only park in the world to host three taxa of Great Apes. Another prominent inhabitant of the park is the Okapi, an endangered species that resembles a zebra but is more closely related to the giraffe. Large colonies of hippopotami, forest and savanna elephants, lions, and numerous rare bird species can also be found in the park. -- Virunga National Park.

Also within the park's borders are a number of other volcanoes, including Nymulagira, which "has erupted over 40 times since the late 1800s – the most recent eruptions occurring in January 2010 and November 2011."

Warden de Merode said the park has retained an "internationally respected specialist security firm" to review the park's security measures and see what more can be done to protect visitors and Virunga's resources.

The dormant Mikeno Volcano is home to many of the park's Mountain Gorillas/Virunga National Park